TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How did ancient civilizations make ice cream? | Vivian Jiang
Ice cream has a unique role in our world’s history, culture, and cravings. The first accounts of cold desserts date back to the first century, in civilizations including ancient Rome, Mughal India, and Tang Dynasty China. Yet the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Japan's scariest ghost story | Kit Brooks
Oiwa’s only hope for ending her marriage to the cruel and dishonorable samurai, Iemon, was her father. But after he tried to end the union, Iemon murdered him in cold blood. With plans to marry another, Iemon conspired to poison his wife...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What would happen if everyone stopped eating meat tomorrow? | Carolyn Beans
Imagine if a wizard of meatless dining suddenly appeared on Earth and with one wave of a wand wiped away all meat from our shelves— along with any desire to eat it. Farm animals destined for food vanish, whisked away to another planet....
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The dark history of werewolves | Craig Thomson
Stories of werewolves have existed for thousands of years and continue to live on today. They're especially prominent in European literature and folklore, and often found in cultures where the wolf is the largest natural predator. Over...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How to overcome your mistakes | TED-Ed
People often describe failure as a teachable moment— a necessary stumble on our way to improvement. But learning from our mistakes isn't always easy, especially when those failures are demoralizing, overwhelming, or just downright...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why is it so hard to break a bad habit? | TED-Ed
Many people deal with a nail-biting habit at some point in their lives. Some will go to great lengths to try to stop, employing strategies like dipping their hands in salt or wearing gloves. And while not all of us are nail-biters, most...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How to enter flow state | TED-Ed
Flow is more than just concentrating or paying attention; it's a unique mental state of effortless engagement. And those who more frequently experience flow report higher levels of positive emotions, creativity, and feelings of...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you outsmart Fate and break her ancient curse? | Dan Finkel
Hundreds of years ago, your ancestor stole a magical tarot deck from Fate herself— and it came with a terrible cost. Once every 23 years, one member of your family must face Fate in a duel with rules only known to your opponent. And...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The Hawaiian story of the king's betrayal | Sydney Iaukea
Long ago, the Hawaiian wind goddess wielded a gourd that housed the winds of the Islands. It came to hold her bones, along with the life force they carried, and was eventually passed to her grandson, Paka'a. Like his father before him,...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why do we eat popcorn at the movies? | Andrew Smith
Soft percussion and a toasty scent mark the violent transformation of tough seeds into cloud-like puffs. This is the almost magical process of popcorn-making. Dozens of kinds of popcorn are now grown in the US, with different strains...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: A day in the Islamic Golden Age | Birte Kristiansen and Petra Sijpesteijn
It's 791 CE. As the morning sun shines on the Golden Gate Palace, brother and sister Hisham and Asma prepare for the journey of a lifetime: the hajj, a holy pilgrimage to Mecca. They intend to travel with the big hajj caravan— but a...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you steal the most powerful wand in the wizarding world? | Dan Finkel
The fabled Mirzakhani wand is the most powerful magical item ever created. And that's why the evil wizard Moldevort is planning to use it to conquer the world. You and Drumbledrore have finally discovered its hiding place in a cave, but...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Mao Zedong's infamous mango cult | Vivian Jiang
In August 1968, factory workers overheard news of a mandatory meeting. Whispered rumors described shipments of a gift from the country's Communist leader, Chairman Mao Zedong. And sure enough, managers soon distributed a gift to every...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: This one weird trick will get you infinite gold | Dan Finkel
A few years ago, the king decided your life would be forfeit unless you tripled the gold coins in his treasury. Fortunately, a strange little man appeared and magically performed the feat. Unfortunately, you promised him your first-born...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What is MSG, and is it actually bad for you? | Sarah E. Tracy
In 1968, Dr. Robert Ho Man Kwok felt ill after dinner at a Chinese restaurant and wrote a letter to a medical journal connecting his symptoms to MSG. His letter would change the world's relationship with MSG, inspiring international...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Michelle Brown: What is a butt tuba and why is it in medieval art?
A rabbit attempts to play a church organ, while a knight fights a giant snail and a naked man blows a trumpet with his rear end. These bizarre images, painted with squirrel-hair brushes on vellum or parchment by monks, nuns and urban...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The history of museums - J. V. Maranto
Museums have been a part of human history for over 2,000 years -- but they weren't always like the ones we visit today. J.V. Maranto uncovers the evolution of museums, from the first museum in 530 BC (curated by a princess) to PT...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Can you solve the buried treasure riddle? - Daniel Griller
After a massive storm tears through the Hex Archipelago, you find five grizzled survivors in the water. As an act of gratitude for saving them, they reveal a secret _ the island they were just on holds some buried treasure. But when the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why do we feel nostalgia? - Clay Routledge
Nostalgia was once considered an illness confined to specific groups of people. Today, people all over the world report experiencing and enjoying nostalgia. But how does nostalgia work? And is it healthy? Clay Routledge details the way...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The effects of underwater pressure on the body - Neosha S Kashef
Why would a fish throw up its stomach? What makes a scuba diver develop painful microbubbles in their joints? Neosha S Kashef details the basics of barotrauma, shedding light on how humans and fish alike are influenced by laws of physics...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The world's slimiest animal | Noah R. Bressman and Douglas Fudge
In 2017, a truck screeched to a halt. One of its containers slid off, hit a car, and spilled its contents— thousands of kilograms of hagfish. The result of this accident was an absolute mess: the highway was coated in a thick slime that...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why is Aristophanes called "The Father of Comedy"? - Mark Robinson
Aristophanes, often referred to as the Father of Comedy, wrote the world's earliest surviving comic dramas. They're stuffed full of parodies, songs, sexual jokes and surreal fantasy -- and they've shaped how comedy's been written and...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why should you read Shakespeare's "The Tempest"? - Iseult Gillespie
Explore William Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest”, a story of shipwreck, magic and a fight for power. -- Claps of thunder and flashes of lightning illuminate a swelling sea, as a ship buckles beneath the waves. It is no ordinary storm,...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The surprising link between stress and memory - Elizabeth Cox
You spend weeks studying for an important test. On the big day, you wait nervously as your teacher hands it out. You're working your way through, when you're asked to define "ataraxia." You know you've seen the word before, but your mind...